Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition

Although paperback collections of the entertaining Giant Days series have been coming out, Boom! has now released the series’ first hardcover, with a nifty extra.

Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition collects the first eight issues written by John Allison. The bulk of the book (the first six) are illustrated by Lissa Treiman, with Max Sarin taking over after that. These issues introduce Daisy (naive), Esther (goth object of desire and center of drama), and Susan (relentlessly practical) in their first year at college.

In these stories, the girls get sick, fight bro culture on the internet, celebrate Daisy’s 18th, go to the holiday dance, freak out over exams, and try on different personalities. I love this series because it’s a wonderful blend of everyday life and everything you wish your school days had been like, with great dialogue and expressive character art.

And now that bonus. The first self-published issue, also drawn by Allison, is included. It’s about Esther’s past and how she passed on hanging with the popular girls for her new friends. Also included in this hardcover is the four-page Giant Days story from the Boom! Box Mix Tape 2015 anthology, all the variant covers to the issues reprinted here, and some character sketches.

Amazon says that volume 2 will be out in January, collecting #9-16 and at least one more of the prelude comics. (The publisher provided a digital review copy.)